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Your Best Leather Jacket Deals of 2021 for $200 or Less

Messages
10,199
Well it would hard to beat this one, for sure the best vintage jacket I have ever scored, certainly for the insanely low price I paid for it. My wife and I were out last night for dinner at the "Olive Garden" and as usual I requested to stop at a local thrift store I check out whenever we are in that area. I go in and have a look at the leather jackets that they get in and normally it is pretty standard new cheap leather jackets made in China or some such thing although years ago I got a get like new BUTWIN "Hero Jacket", grey wool body with black steerhide leather sleeves. Last night I found a great leather jacket by a maker I was totally unfamiliar with called the "Great American Leather Sportswear/ American Sportwear Co, Brigham City, Utah. Below that on the label is "Imported Goatskin". After I looked it over I found it was in very nice condition, the leather has great patina and is smooth and soft and well broken in. All the zippers [2 on the chest [both have chain zipper pulls] and the main front zipper [Talon] all work perfectly and the pockets have no holes in them. All the buttons [1 on each sleeve and 2 on the back along the waist line are present as well] The lining [A rust colored diamond pattern' appears to be original with the label tag, there are some areas of wear around where say a belt buckle would be. It is a "Large" size wise [It's what is on the price tag from the store]............... it fits me but I can find no label on the jacket itself to actually indicate the size. No bad smells, just that of the leather itself. Ready for the price? $15.99 I'll be posting some photos here tomorrow as my wife and I are going out tonight for the Christmas parade here in town.

Great American Leather out of Utah made really nice jackets. I almost bought one of their police jackets years ago, but balked for some reason. Can’t recall. And there is one of their flight jackets on eBay that almost made me jump into that style. Tanaka mentions them in his book. $16?!? I think we can close this thread now.
 

El Marro

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,474
Location
California
Great idea for a thread @Coriu, thank you!
I have not bought very many used leather jackets and when I have they have usually been closer to the $500 mark or above. my one real triumphant score came back in 2017 when I bought a late 1950s LW Foster G-1 for $199.86. The jacket was in amazing shape, mouton collar as well, but the lining needed replacing and I think that scared other buyers away.
 

Clothes Horse

New in Town
Messages
22
I was able to talk to someone last night about this jacket who has long been in the vintage clothing business and he said the jacket dates to sometime in the 1940s.............anyone here have an opinion or have a guess on that? In any case he said just by the photos I provided it appears to be all original, born as it was all those years ago and thought it was in great condition and a remarkable find.............certainly at $15.99! Sorry for the barrage of photos just trying to show how original and how nice of condition the jacket is in. A "GRAIL" find for me w/o a doubt.
 

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Flying Monkey

New in Town
Messages
41
After thinking about it for a few moments, I realized that I've never paid $200 for any jacket I own, (about two dozen). I think the highest was $169 for a heavy crosszip I just had to have. The hunt for the great deal is a big part of this hobby for me.
 

photo2u

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
claremont california
I was able to talk to someone last night about this jacket who has long been in the vintage clothing business and he said the jacket dates to sometime in the 1940s.............anyone here have an opinion or have a guess on that? In any case he said just by the photos I provided it appears to be all original, born as it was all those years ago and thought it was in great condition and a remarkable find.............certainly at $15.99! Sorry for the barrage of photos just trying to show how original and how nice of condition the jacket is in. A "GRAIL" find for me w/o a doubt.

Love the jacket. The Indian goat skin produced during that time had a beautiful glazed finish that is so navy. The zipper appears to be late 50's. Would it be possible to view a wide angle of the front?

Thanks for sharing and a great find!
 

Clothes Horse

New in Town
Messages
22
Love the jacket. The Indian goat skin produced during that time had a beautiful glazed finish that is so navy. The zipper appears to be late 50's. Would it be possible to view a wide angle of the front?

Thanks for sharing and a great find!
Sure, I can take a photo of the jacket lying flat. The jacket does have a beautiful gloss finish to the leather Front zipper is a TALON but is kind of unusual as those lines that surround the name "Talon" are broken right across the letter "L" it's not a solid surround. The top of the zipper does not appear to me to be as wide as the 50s era.........just my eye on it, it does not look to ever having been replaced. All the same it still works perfectly.
 

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photo2u

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
claremont california
Sure, I can take a photo of the jacket lying flat. The jacket does have a beautiful gloss finish to the leather Front zipper is a TALON but is kind of unusual as those lines that surround the name "Talon" are broken right across the letter "L" it not a solid surround. The top of the zipper does not appear to me to be as wide as the 50s era.........just my eye on it, it does not look to ever having been replaced. All the same it still works perfectly.

Thanks for the images. The jacket is a nice for sure. Regarding the zip. Please look at the box (bottom part of zip) You will see that yours have the thinner two lines. That is consistent with late 50s. The pulls sometimes can be change and sometimes are not a good indicator of the date.
 

Clothes Horse

New in Town
Messages
22
Thanks for the images. The jacket is a nice for sure. Regarding the zip. Please look at the box (bottom part of zip) You will see that yours have the thinner two lines. That is consistent with late 50s. The pulls sometimes can be change and sometimes are not a good indicator of the date.
I agree I do see that now...................and sure pulls can be replaced, I just had one done here the other day on a fleece jacket I use for snow blowing. I'd be an ass to come on here with a jacket like this being a novice and asking for help and then not be accepting from people in the know regarding these things. Your knowledge is appreciated Thank You!:) BTW as a follow up look what I ran across. Vintage 40s Genuine American Sportswear Co Leather Jacket Brown Belted | eBay
 
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Flying Monkey

New in Town
Messages
41
Nice jacket. What does the label say? Can't make out. The ring pulls suggest it is fairly old, before diamond pulls became a thing.
Label just reads "Made of genuine steerhide" and has a steer's head right in the middle. No tags in the pockets, no hang chain like Fidelity, wrong stitching on the lining for Fidelity too. Leather is quite thick and grainy without any of the plastic-like feel to it like the later Sears stuff. Main zipper looks to have been replaced with a Lenzip. Sleeve zippers probably original and are Esko. Seems old, maybe 50s. Really a quality jacket in my opinion, especially for the price, haha.
 

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